My first real knife as a kid about 4 years ago, i'm 21 now and it was the first good thrower I had, Extremely well balanced, it wants to leave your hand but only in the correct grip, otherwise it stays right in hand with a fencer, hammer or either reverse grip, It's a little annoying to sharpen but I love this thing, I want like 5 of them and am sad to see it out of stock.